Syriac Church, if I'm not mistaken, uses a syriac translation of the Greek syriac rite liturgy originally translated from syriac but which was lost.

They speak Aramaic and Arabic.

Roman/Greek Antiochian Church uses Greek and Arabic.

Coptic church uses Arabic and Coptic.

All have certain "semitic" cultural practices. I suppose the syriacs are closer to Jews in the sense that they use two semitic languages?

« Last Edit: August 28, 2012, 11:48:35 PM by NicholasMyra »

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Quote from: Fr. Thomas Hopko, dystopian parable of the prodigal son

...you can imagine so-called healing services of the pigpen. The books that could be written, you know: Life in the Pigpen. How to Cope in the Pigpen. Being Happy in the Pigpen. Surviving in the Pigpen. And then there could be counselling, for people who feel unhappy in the pigpen, to try to get them to come to terms with the pigpen, and to accept the pigpen.

The Syriac Orthodox Church uses classical Syriac in liturgy and not Arabic. Some adherents speak Arabic but many speak modern Syriac.

The Antiochian Orthodox also used to use Syriac, even after Chalcedon. Some of them are probably ethnically "Syriac" as well.

Closest to Jewish culture? The Syriac language is probably the closest to Hebrew of the ones mentioned here. But as for the customs/traditions of the peoples today it's hard to say. Abraham is called "the wandering Aramean" though =P.

At least in modern times, the Syriac Orthodox in Syria and Lebanon use a fair bit of Arabic in their liturgy, at least at the liturgies I've attended.

None of these groups have much in common with the culture of the Ashkenazi Jews who are predominant in Europe, the US, and Israel.... but if you didn't already know someone's religion, it would be hard for you to tell them apart culturally from Lebanese, Syrian, or Iraqi Jews....

As a Chalcedonian, I think the Antiochian Rum Orthodox Church would be the correct choice. But liturgically and culturally, I think the Syriac Orthodox Church might be closer to what you're looking for. I know an Israeli Orthodox Priest (an ethnic Ashkenazi Jew) who is based in Jerusalem and has created an interesting Hebraic chant based on Russian chant and Ashkenazi Jewish chant while doing the liturgy in Hebrew and Slavonic. He is under the Ukrainian Orthodox Church but keeps close ties with the Syriac church.

As a Chalcedonian, I think the Antiochian Rum Orthodox Church would be the correct choice. But liturgically and culturally, I think the Syriac Orthodox Church might be closer to what you're looking for. I know an Israeli Orthodox Priest (an ethnic Ashkenazi Jew) who is based in Jerusalem and has created an interesting Hebraic chant based on Russian chant and Ashkenazi Jewish chant while doing the liturgy in Hebrew and Slavonic. He is under the Ukrainian Orthodox Church but keeps close ties with the Syriac church.

I visited a Syriac church the other weekend. It was very interesting. They used Arabic and another language during service. The choir members all wore lace scarves and sat in the first few rows on the right. The other women rarely wore those outside of communion. The priest's wife felt a lot like my old Messianic rabbi's wife (who was raised Jewish).

« Last Edit: December 12, 2012, 03:38:15 AM by Anastasia1 »

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Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 2:6)